From Pontoise karting to Formula E titles, with a Formula One stint at Toro Rosso and a factory seat in endurance racing along the way.
Jean-Eric Vergne is a French driver born in 1990 who won the 2010 British Formula 3 title. Toro Rosso gave him a Formula One seat from 2012 to 2014, and he later won two Formula E championships and joined Peugeot for endurance racing.
Jean-Eric Vergne is a French driver who started karting near Paris and went on to win the British Formula 3 title in 2010. He spent 2012 to 2014 at Toro Rosso in Formula One, then built his reputation in Formula E, winning the championship in 2017-18 and again in 2018-19. He has also raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship since 2022.
Who is Jean-Eric Vergne?
Jean-Eric Vergne is a French racing driver born on 25 April 1990 in Pontoise, France, and known by the initials JEV. He claimed the 2010 British Formula 3 crown, spent 2012 to 2014 in Formula One, and became a two-time Formula E champion. He has also competed in the World Endurance Championship with Peugeot.
His career has moved between single-seaters, Formula One, Formula E and sports prototypes, and several of his best results came after a change of team.
From Pontoise karting to two Formula E crowns, Vergne's career has crossed single-seaters, the Formula One paddock and sports prototypes.
How did Vergne rise through the junior ranks?
Vergne began karting at the age of four on his father's circuit near Paris and became French champion in the kids category in 2001. He moved into single-seaters in 2007, when he won the French Formula Renault Campus series at the first attempt and joined the Red Bull Junior Team.
Karting brought a run of national and European results. In 2005 he finished second in the ICA class of the European Championship, beaten by James Calado, and the following year he took seventh in the top-tier KF1 World Championship at Angerville, a circuit near Paris.
The Campus series in 2007 gave him ten podium places from thirteen races. In 2008 he raced for SG Formula in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the West European Cup, finishing sixth in the Eurocup and fourth in the West European Cup, and he also took the French Formula Renault 2.0 title. A second place behind Spain's Albert Costa in both series followed in 2009.
Did Vergne win the British Formula 3 title?
Yes. Vergne claimed the 2010 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin, taking twelve victories from the first 24 races and sealing the crown with six races still to run. It was the third straight year that a Red Bull Junior driver had won the crown with the team.
The Carlin season included a clean sweep of three victories at Spa-Francorchamps. Outside the championship he finished fourth at the Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort and seventh in the Macau Grand Prix, and on both occasions he was the top finisher from the British series.
The same year he also took part in GP3. Tech 1 Racing signed him for the opening round at Barcelona in May, but he was replaced by Jim Pla for the Turkish round and returned for Valencia. In early July the team handed his seat to Daniel Juncadella for the rest of the season.
How close did he come to the Formula Renault 3.5 title?
In 2011 he was runner-up to his Carlin teammate Robert Wickens, losing the championship by nine points. Their first-lap collision at Barcelona ended Wickens's race, and Vergne was later knocked out too, which handed the title to Wickens.
His route into the series began in 2010, when he stood in at Tech 1 Racing for the last three events after the Red Bull Junior Team let Brendon Hartley go. He finished eighth overall with four podiums, among them a first series victory at Silverstone that came after the original winner was excluded for a technical breach.
In 2011 he moved to Carlin full time and won five races, including a double at the Hungaroring. At Monza he took the second race win, then lost it to a time penalty for cutting a chicane. The team appealed, and the Italian Motorsports Commission overturned the penalty and restored the victory.
How did his first Formula One test go?
Vergne's first taste of Formula One machinery came at Goodwood in July 2010, behind the wheel of a Red Bull RB5. His first post-season test for Toro Rosso followed at Yas Marina that November, where he set the seventh fastest time on day one and finished ninth on day two.
On day one he completed 93 laps and set a time of 1:42.489. On day two he was 0.030 seconds behind the Williams of Pastor Maldonado, the new GP2 champion, although an engine-related problem limited his running and he left early for the Macau race.
In 2011 he practised for Toro Rosso from the Korean Grand Prix onwards and was eleventh fastest in Abu Dhabi practice. That November he drove the Red Bull RB7, the car that had just won the title, and set the quickest time on each of the three days of the young driver test.
What was his Toro Rosso record like?
Vergne raced for Toro Rosso from 2012 to 2014 and scored points in several rounds. His best results were an eighth place in Monaco and a sixth place in Canada in 2013, and his 2012 season ended with 16 points and 17th in the championship.
His first points came in Malaysia in 2012, where he finished eighth in a rain-affected race. In Europe he collided with Heikki Kovalainen during an overtaking attempt, and the stewards judged it avoidable. The penalty was a ten-position grid drop at the British Grand Prix plus a fine of 25,000 euros.
The 2013 season was harder. He qualified seventh and finished sixth in Canada, his best finish, but the rest of the year brought several retirements. He ended the season 15th in the standings with thirteen points, while Daniel Ricciardo scored 20.
In 2014 he partnered the 19-year-old Daniil Kvyat. At Singapore he matched his best result with sixth place, passing Nico Hulkenberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas in the closing laps despite two five-second penalties. In Hungary he briefly ran second after a pit stop under the safety car, but he finished ninth.
Why did Vergne leave Toro Rosso?
Red Bull announced in August 2014 that Max Verstappen would join Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso for 2015, which left Vergne without a seat. On 26 November 2014 he confirmed he would leave the team, and Carlos Sainz Jr replaced him.
His final Toro Rosso season had been a mixed one. A wheel fitting error in practice in Spain dropped him to 21st on the grid, and at Russia he finished 13th, directly ahead of Kvyat.
Did Vergne race for Ferrari?
Not as a race driver. Ferrari announced on 19 December 2014 that he would join for 2015 as a test and development driver, with particular emphasis on simulator work. He left the team in February 2017.
The role kept him close to the Ferrari engineering process while his racing career moved to other categories, most notably Formula E.
How did his Formula E career begin?
Vergne moved to Formula E in 2014 after failing to secure a Formula One drive for 2015, signing with Andretti Autosport. He took pole position on his debut in Uruguay and finished seventh overall in his first season with 70 points.
He finished second at Long Beach and third in the London ePrix. For 2015-16 he joined DS Virgin Racing alongside Sam Bird. He struggled to match Bird across the season and finished ninth in the championship.
In 2016 Techeetah was formed after the acquisition of Team Aguri, and Vergne joined it. At the season finale in Montreal the team earned its first podiums, the fastest lap award and its first win, which set up the years that followed.
What made his two Formula E titles stand out?
Vergne won the Formula E championship in 2017-18, taking the crown at New York with a race left and becoming the fourth different champion in four seasons. He retained it in 2018-19 with three wins at Sanya, Monaco and Bern, becoming the series' first repeat champion.
The 2017-18 campaign included a second win at the Santiago ePrix and a third career win at Punta del Este. The consistent run of points finishes that followed set up the championship lead.
How did the Formula E career continue after the titles?
In 2019-20 he partnered Antonio Felix da Costa and took a podium in Marrakesh despite missing first practice with a fever. He ended that season third in the championship, one point behind Stoffel Vandoorne, after winning round four in Berlin.
In 2020-21 he won the first race in Rome and finished tenth overall with 80 points, 19 behind champion De Vries. The 2021-22 season saw him fourth in the standings with 144 points and two poles, at Rome and Jakarta.
In 2022-23 he joined the newly formed DS Penske team alongside Stoffel Vandoorne. He won the inaugural Hyderabad ePrix, and in Cape Town he was relegated to second by an overtake from Felix da Costa on the final lap.
Which teams did he race for in Formula E?
Vergne has raced for five Formula E teams, and his results moved with each change. The table below summarises his main seasons, from his first campaign with Andretti Autosport to his current partnership with Citroen Racing.
| Season | Team | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | Andretti Autosport | Seventh overall, 70 points |
| 2015-16 | DS Virgin Racing | Ninth overall |
| 2017-18 | Techeetah | Champion |
| 2018-19 | Techeetah | Champion, first repeat title in the series |
| 2019-20 | Techeetah | Third, one point behind Stoffel Vandoorne |
| 2020-21 | DS Techeetah | Tenth overall, 80 points |
| 2021-22 | DS Techeetah | Fourth overall, 144 points |
| 2022-23 | DS Penske | Hyderabad ePrix win |
| 2023-24 | DS Penske | Record points total and record pole positions |
| 2025-26 | Citroen Racing | Level on points with Taylor Barnard, ranked behind him |
Does Vergne still race in endurance events?
Yes. Vergne joined the Peugeot Sport factory team for the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, racing in the Hypercar class. Before that he had competed in LMP2 machinery for CEFC Manor and G-Drive.
The move gave him a factory seat in top-level sports prototype racing, which is a different discipline from the single-seater work that defined his earlier years.
What else is Vergne involved in off track?
Vergne co-founded Veloce Racing after a 2018 partnership with Veloce Esports, and the team is now part of Extreme E. He plays the piano, speaks French, English, Spanish and Italian, and counts Andre Lotterer, his teammate from 2017 to 2019, as a close friend.
His 2025-26 season with Citroen Racing, partnering Nick Cassidy, began with a retirement at Sao Paulo. He will continue with the team alongside Cassidy for 2026-27.
